Magnetic storage container having a magnetically latching lid

ABSTRACT

A magnetic storage container having a magnetically latching lid. The magnetic storage container incorporates magnet arrays into a cylindrically shaped container about its open and closed ends to attach the container&#39;s lid to its body and produce a strong magnetic attractive force for holding the container in place to any ferrous mounting surface. The container is intended to store or hide items in a multitude of discreet and useful locations.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Application No. 62/642,676

Filing date: Mar. 14, 2018

Confirmation No. 2548

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

Not Applicable

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM (EFS-WEB)

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR A JOINT INVENTOR

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a storage container that incorporates permanent magnets into its construction to securely hold, store, and hide items in a variety of convenient locations and manners.

Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98

Storage containers that incorporate magnets into their frames or bodies allow for items contained within them to be stored in a variety of useful and discreet locations. These types of containers are made in various configurations and sizes, and may be utilized to store keys and other valuable items in secure locations to keep them from being visible and accessed unwantedly.

These types of storage containers use a variety of mechanisms to secure a cover or lid over the openings to their storage cavities. The cover or lid securely fastens over the open end of the container to seal the storage cavity and hold the contents in place while being transported or stored. The mechanisms for securing a cover or lid to the container include, but are not limited to, straps and buckles, snaps or latches, sliding assemblies, magnetic couplings, and threated twist-off lids.

Examples of storage containers and assemblies that incorporate permanent magnets into their frames or bodies to enable them to be secured to a ferrous surface can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,589,349 issued to Diefenbach, U.S. Pat. No. 3,007,568 issued to Kurland, U.S. Pat. No. 3,069,890 issued to McKinney, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,457,425 issued to Phelon Magnagrib Company, Inc. These references all disclose containers or assemblies that are intended to hide and store keys or other small items in discreet locations.

Examples of storage containers that employ permanent magnets for securing a cover or lid can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,716,091 issued to Gaines, U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,012 issued to Revlon, Inc., U.S. Pat. No. 6,336,567 issued to Kakizaki Manufacturing Co., and U.S. Pat. No. 9,279,527 issued to Hana Consulting, Inc.

The magnetic storage containers and assemblies disclosed in the references listed above and which are currently in use offer a finite amount of internal storage space; this significantly limits the type and size of items that can be stored and carried within them.

The magnetic storage containers and assemblies disclosed in the references listed above and which are currently in use utilize magnet configurations that lack a sufficient amount of attractive force to hold them securely in position on a ferrous surface with adequate force that they can be moved or separated from their mounting location regardless of how the mounting surface itself may move or be impacted by external forces, or the amount of weight being carried inside the container. If a container does not possess an adequately strong attractive force to ensure it stays attached to its mounting surface under any and all conditions it may be exposed to, it could result in the container being displaced, damaged, or lost along with all of its contents.

The magnetic storage containers and assemblies disclosed in the references listed above and which are currently in use fail to provide an effective mechanism for quickly and easily attaching lids to cover and seal the storage cavity, and fail to provide some place or way to attach and store the lid elsewhere on the container when it is not needed or being used to prevent inadvertently misplacing or losing it. Lids having some type of mechanical interface that is used to attach them to the container body can get dirt or grit on or in them, become worn or loose fitting, and/or sustain damage through normal daily use that may cause sliding, twisting, and latching lid components to bind or seize up, making them very difficult or even impossible to open or remove from the container. If the containers cannot be opened, the contents they contain become irretrievable. These failures may result when a container gets repeatedly covered in or exposed to dirt or mud, fine metal or wood shavings, excessive mechanical vibrations, and extreme variations in temperate, moisture, or other environmental conditions that degrade the containers material(s) to the point of becoming weakened, brittle, rusted, broken, or warped/distorted.

Accordingly, what is needed to overcome these problems and shortcomings associated with the existing magnetic storage containers discussed above, is an improved magnetic storage container design that can be made in a variety of sizes and having internal storage spaces that are capable of fitting items of many different sizes or volumes. An improved magnetic storage container design is needed that utilizes an enhanced magnet array consisting of many magnets arranged in the best possible configuration to generate the strongest possible adhesive force between itself and a ferrous mounting surface that is capable of holding it firmly and securely in its intended storage location so that it cannot be moved or be detached from that surface regardless of being directly impacted by exterior forces that will act upon it. An improved magnetic security container is needed that incorporates an improved method or mechanism for attaching the container's lid to its body in such as a manner as to ensure it stays securely connected at all times and reduces or eliminates commonly experienced malfunctions that can adversely affect a container's ability to be opened or closed quickly and easily.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The problems and disadvantages of the prior art magnetic storage containers discussed above in the Description of Related Art are overcome in accordance with the present invention by creating cylindrically shaped storage containers of an improved design that can be easily manufactured in any variety of different sizes and from many different types of construction materials, while preserving the fundamental form and function of a single design across all sizes and types of materials used to construct them. These containers will provide many different options for internal storage cavity volumes to enable them to hold and store items of many different shapes and sizes.

The problems and disadvantages of the prior art magnetic storage containers discussed above in the Description of Related Art are overcome in accordance with the present invention by providing a container that incorporates into its construction a complex magnet array that is embedded into its mounting surface consisting of a multitude of small magnets in a circular configuration in addition to a single significantly larger disc magnet mounted directly in the center of the container. All of these magnets function in cooperation to create an extremely strong magnetic field across the entirety of the container's mounting surface to securely hold it in place against any ferrous surface with optimal strength, stability, and weight distribution to hide and store the container and its contents. This enhanced magnet array makes it extremely difficult and unlikely that any jarring motion or impact applied to the mounting surface should cause the container to become displaced or detached from its mounting location.

The problems and disadvantages of the prior art magnetic storage containers discussed above in the Description of Related Art are overcome in accordance with the present invention by providing a container that possesses an improved mechanism for attaching and holding its lid securely in place and preventing it from being inadvertently dislodged, detached, or rendered inoperable as a result of working parts being damaged or its construction materials degrading over time. A set of magnets identical in size, number, and orientation to that of the magnet array described previously as being embedded into the bottom surface of the container are embedded in the same fashion about the open surface of the container. This set of magnets function as the mechanism for attaching and firmly holding (latching) the container's lid in place over its storage cavity opening This method for latching the lid to the container promotes a greater ease of use and improved speed of operation when attaching and removing the lid to and from the container. This method for latching the lid to the container also eliminates the possibility of encountering certain malfunctions commonly experienced when using containers that employ conventional methods for securing lids or covers to a container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings where like designations denote like elements, and:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a magnetic storage container body; and

FIG. 2. is an isometric view of a magnetic storage container lid.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As discussed above, embodiments of the present invention relate to a magnetic storage container. In particular, disclosed is a cylindrical magnetic storage container having a complex magnetic array for securing the container to a ferrous surface and for attaching and securing ITS lid to both the open and closed ends of the container.

FIG. 1 illustrates a magnetic storage container body 4. The magnetic storage container body 4 comprises a cylindrically shaped container constructed from a high strength and durable thermoplastic or other formable metal or composite material and having any desired diameter and length. The container body 4 contains a plurality of evenly numbered and spaced high strength neodymium rare earth magnets 1,2 of any desired shape and size around the cylinder's opening on the top 5 end and identically located around the circumference of its closed end on the bottom 6. The magnets are situated such that their outward facing surfaces lie flush with the surfaces of the open and closed ends 6, 7 of the container's body 4, and expose the polar ends of each magnet in an alternating sequence of North magnetic polarity 1 and South magnetic polarity 2. The magnetic container body also contains a single disc magnet 3 of any desired size being located at the exact center of the closed end of the container and being mounted either within the interior of the container's storage cavity or within the exterior surface of the container.

FIG. 2. illustrates a magnetic storage container lid 8. The magnetic storage container lid 8 comprises a cylindrically shaped cap being of the same circumference as that of the magnetic container body 4, and flush on its top and bottom surfaces, or having a shallow recess on one end that is identical in circumference to that of the internal opening in the magnetic container body 4. The magnetic container lid 8 possesses on either or both of its end surfaces an identical arrangement and quantity of magnets as that contained within the open and closed ends 6, 7 of the container body 4.

The combination of magnets 1-3 contained within the closed end of the container body 4 are intended to hold the container firmly and securely in place to any ferrous service.

The magnetic storage container's body 4 and lid 8 having an identical arrangement and quantity of magnets will cause the two components to experience a strong attractive force between them that pulls them together when placed in close proximity to one another. This attractive force firmly holds the lid 8 in place across the storage cavity's opening 5, sealing the container and locking in its contents. With the lid 8 being attached to the top of the container, it can be slightly rotated in either direction to offset the alignment of the magnets and generate a repulsion force between the container's lid 8 and body 4 that will push the two components apart and allow them to be easily separated.

An alternate embodiment of the invention may include a magnetic storage container body 4 having an indention or slot recessed into the surface of its open end to accept and hold a sealing gasket made of rubber or other flexible material that can be compressed when the container's lid 8 is attached to seal the opening to the storage cavity 5 to render it air tight and water proof.

The plurality of magnets contained within the open and closed ends 6, 7 of the container body 4 enable the container lid 8 to be attached to either end of the container body. Attaching the lid 8 to the open end of the body 6 covers the storage cavity 5 and holds contents in the container to prevent them from falling out. Attaching the lid to the closed 7 end of the container allows it to be conveniently stored when not in use to seal the containers cavity 5, and prevent it from being misplaced or lost. The plurality of magnets in both the open and closed ends 6, 7 of the container body 4 also enables multiple container bodies to be connected together to provide a modular storage system for keeping contents separated in individual compartments as a single continuous body or assembly. 

1. A magnetic storage container comprising: A cylindrically shaped container body having one open end and one closed end and being constructed from a high strength and durable thermoplastic or other formable metal or composite material and having any desired diameter and length; Wherein the open end of the container extends into the cylinder to form a storage cavity; Wherein the surface around the opening to the storage cavity contains a plurality of an even number of permanent magnetics of any desired shape and size being spaced equidistant and of alternating North and South polarities; Wherein the surface around the opening to the storage cavity contains may contain an indention or slot to accept and hold a sealing gasket made of rubber or other flexible material; Wherein the closed end of the container contains around the perimeter of its circumference a plurality of an even number of permanent magnetics of any desired shape and size being spaced equidistant and of alternating North and South polarities; Wherein the closed end of the container contains a single disc magnet of any desired size located at its exact center and being mounted either within the interior of the container's storage cavity or within the exterior surface of the container. A cylindrically shaped container lid being made of the same material and circumference as that of the container body; Wherein the lid's top and bottom flat surfaces may be solid or have a shallow recess on one end being identical in circumference to that of the opening into magnetic container body's storage cavity; Wherein the lid contains on either or both of its end surfaces an identical arrangement and quantity of magnets as that contained within the open and closed ends of the container body. 